On Tuesday I announced the 2022 Millionaire Money Mentors (MMM) Labor Day Sale.
In that post I shared some stats on the site, the sale details, and some comments from members/mentors on how being part of MMM has helped them.
Then on Thursday I shared some quotes from MMM members and mentors on what the site has done for them.
If you want to cut to the chase and simply take advantage of the sale asap, you can do so at the main MMM page or read details of the sale in that first post.
But if you’d like to stick around a bit, today I’m sharing some more member/mentor responses to the following question:
“How has being a mentor/member of MMM helped you?”
Here are several quotes, separated by dashes to indicate where one person’s comment ends and another’s begins:
So many ways:
- Peers to talk to about life experiences we share.
- Knowledge that would cost me so much time and money if I had to try and figure out how and where to get it myself. As an example: I just read the “When do you need a trust?” thread today. So much information. Yes, you need to subsequently work with an expert on the details, but you already have the ability at that point to think more critically about the issue because of what you learn here and you can suss out any BS.
- Peers who think similarly to me. This is not intended to sound arrogant so my apologies if it does; I have one good friend that can talk to me on the same level of detail on some issues, not all issues and he gets overwhelmed sometimes and gives up on me a lot. And I’m pretty reserved on this forum. Reading the threads of others here is a lot like talking to myself but still different because its folks who think like me who have different life experiences and skill sets.
- Mindset – Staying the course and knowing to stay the course takes discipline that gets a huge boost knowing others are also doing it and thinking similarly.
- My marriage – she would probably divorce me if I did not have this outlet.
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I realized I am not the only one who made idiotic financial decisions over the years and still have financial stability. Ha ha. From reading many other MMM posts, it was all a learning experience and we all never went all in on one idea and blew our savings.
I am even more excited about retiring in two years. This has changed from 1.5 years. It was taken from MMM posts regarding streams of incomes. Others have many other streams of incomes. We are primarily pension and stock investments.
We even negotiated a pay cut the past year to gain more vacation time. That was from MMM posts regarding that you can’t get time back. Take advantage of the time you have now. We are taking more time off work to play pickleball, hiking, and taking trips.
And the biggest one of all, you all are hilarious and easy going in your own unique way on financial topics. In general, society feels financial topics are always so serious. I can’t count the number of times I have chuckled and shared the funny stories with my wife.
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This group has gotten me:
- Onto MaxMyInterest for cash
- Helped me set up my donor-advised fund
- Given great real estate council
- Coached on bundling charitable contributions, see #2.
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One area MMM helped me was realizing my imposter syndrome was not uncommon. Hearing from other folks with high NW numbers helped me feel more at ease with the idea that maybe we really have made it (Even though I still feel like an imposter! There is just now way I am really a rich guy…can’t be true!)
Two of my favorite threads:
- Imposter Syndrome at Work
- FIRE Impostor Syndrome
Also love this place as a more positive time killer as opposed to Facebook or Twitter scrolling. Enjoy both reading and interacting with the folks here.
I’d say MMM saved me at least $1,000 on taxes last year.
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Between general discussions with @ESIMoneyBlog or rounds of advice from [other members], I have found a deeply fulfilling place to discuss finance. But it’s also more than that as well. I have asked for feedback on improving my future hometown, running for non-partisan political office, and other sundry topics. It’s just nice to have a conversation (virtually) with thought-out answers in a civil discourse. Thanks for being an outlet everyone!
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Enjoy this forum daily. I wish I had found you 10-15 years ago.
The two biggest topics that have been helpful/fun would these:
1 – Instead of being passive and taking the usual 3-5% annual pay increase from my company, I discussed with my wife that since it seems everything at work runs through my desk I am going to stand up for myself prior to my annual review and point this out to my manager. Turns out I got more than a 10% increase just about the time inflation blew up. At least I am treading water. My manager agreed that I am the point man for [many topics]. He stated upper management notices.
2 – This is selfish, but has been fun to do. A couple of times I have purchased meals for a table of unknown people out for lunches. Nothing big (less than $30/ea) but it’s fun to watch them search the room for the source. As Karma works out I came out ahead in a drive thru, as someone bought my order for around $8 and I paid it forward for about $5.
Enjoy everyone and how we can all disagree civilly on some topics. America needs more of this.
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I’ve always subscribed to the statement – “in the Abundance of Counselors There is Wisdom”. Subscribing to MMM has allowed me to find significant and “actionable” financial wisdom accelerating my retirement (or new life journey) decision to March of next year. As one of the seasoned members here I have met, engaged and conversed with many finically successful individuals on my life’s journey. But they don’t come close to the vast amount of honest, insightful advice and sage council offered here. Specifically I’ve become much wiser in real estate and dividend investing; and as an active care giver of two widows the conversations on care giving were priceless! Thanks all!
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I almost feel like I need to detail how MMM helped me financially. I’d rather talk about how it helped me mentally.
MMM is like an advanced $$$ class. I’ve read money articles in the MSM and in PF blogs. I’ve figured out budgeting, saving, paying off debt, investing, side hustles, etc. and made my first million. I feel like around this point in time, those articles in the MSM and PF blogs generally stop being meaningful. Occasionally you come across a good article, but the next level advice is far and few between.
I didn’t feel like I had any resources to go to with my specific questions to get quality answers. And I didn’t feel like I had anyone to challenge me to grow outside of my comfort level. MMM provides a safe space for all to ask and contribute, and a wide range of experts – people with real life experiences – to talk to and ask questions.
MMM also allows me to offer advice to others – people who actually want to hear what I say and willing to listen my opinion. It helps to satisfy that inner voice within me that wants to help and give back.
As you grow your net worth higher, you need to start having “discussions” on what the next move is. You can’t just follow a blueprint – everyone’s situation is different. The MMM forum allows multiple people with different viewpoints and backgrounds and experiences to weigh in – and that allows you the individual to weigh all options and make the best decision for yourself.
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This sounds like hyperbole, but I really think MMM has been instrumental in several MAJOR life decisions the last few years.
Firstly, and I’ve mentioned this elsewhere, the idea that I have dozens of MILLIONAIRES accessible within minutes in my pocket at all-times is mind-blowing, especially when I think about it from the perspective of myself in 2015 at 30 years old, just finding out about FIRE, but REALLY suffering from the loneliness that came from not having anyone to talk to about this stuff. And really talk to – not just some Facebook post (which isn’t nearly as personal or provides enough context), or the occasional in-person meet-up which consists of some introductions and a guarded sharing of information.
I’m always amazed at the depth and well-though responses I can receive to any question or idea within just a few hours in these forums.
Essentially MMM helped me stick it out when I think I had full-on COVID/2020 fatigue, this thread SINGLE HANDEDLY convinced me it was okay to buy a house again…and then I was able to complain (and ask for suggestions) on how to here.
More recently, it’s helped me switch between decisions of going “for it” and trying to be a time martyr and make as much money as possible or go the alternate route, and essentially semi-retire/go SlowFI.
So yea, I think my life would look very different right now if I hadn’t found these forums a few years back. It’s definitely helped me in my search for balance. And I’ve loved being able to connect with people over real-life zooms/calls and develop genuine friendships via the private messages.
And even with being able to give back with my syndication knowledge/adventures I’ve developed over time, it’s actually helped me personally as VALIDATING the sums of money I’ve pushed from my portfolio into them (other than the always appreciated, but forever skeptical [mentor’s] counterviews). When I started in MMM, syndications were still so new to me, and I really was nervous if I had made the right decisions – but being able to have all these other super smart, successful people show curiosity, I knew I had to be doing something right.
Thanks @ESIMoneyBlog and all the mentors/members who make this a one-of-a-kind place!
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Aside from echoing the many posts regarding having a forum of well-informed, like minded experts that freely share expertise, here are a few specifics to pile on:
- I doubled my savings rate after reading through the journeys of others. To be sure it also helped that my income has risen dramatically, but without MMM I likely would have grew spending more than savings.
- Real world advice on how to help take care of my aging mother financially, including specific advice on how to manage her accounts after gaining POA.
- Psychological support when I was feeling low in the depths of COVID, feeling burnout, and needing pep talk.
- Superb advice on handling an expat assignment, including advice that will save me a ton in taxes.
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I just joined as a Mentor/member in April so fairly new to the forum and probably one of the oldest at 72. I’m not really a great writer but have enjoyed posting to threads that I have experience or knowledge to share with likeminded people. I have enjoyed reading posts from the numerous contributors that are thoughtful, insightful, current and relevant to the topic, and without pre-judgement. The forum has brought to me a group of “friends” that I’m proud to be associated with. Since joining MMM, it has helped me in at least two ways.
MMM has reminded me to look at I Bonds again. I have $50k in I Bonds bought years ago and were at inflation rate plus 1.1%. I have been sitting on cash with small returns of 1.2%. MMM motivated me to purchase $20k in I Bonds (me and spouse) this month and will get 9.62% interest for the current period to bolster the return of my cash holdings. Will now probably do the same in 2023 when I become eligible again to purchase.
I learned that I was able to include a new roof on my home in the adjusted basis of my home. I made a post and then I did some research to expand my knowledge, and IRS DOES allow a replacement roof to be added to the home adjusted basis. It is classified as “extending the life of an asset”. I did a $24,200 roof replace 18 months ago. I now updated my adjusted basis to include that amount. I plan to sell in a few years and will exceed the $500k capital gain exemption, so this will be helpful to reduce my future taxes. Without MMM I would be missing out in a few years when I sell, to the tune of $3,600.
Thanks, MMM.
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That’s it for the top responses on that specific thread, but here are a couple more quotes that I picked up from a thread on checking for unclaimed property:
Thanks! I just found 1,400 dollars in the CA coffers. Insurance dividends.
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Found $100 for me and $350 for my wife! I’ll mail in the forms.
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That’s it for today — and the last in this series/for this sale.
I hope you can see the true, tangible value that the forums is providing — many more times than the annual cost. The MMM forums help people earn, save, and invest money, of course, but they also help people save TIME (in getting to FI, in retiring earlier, etc.) which can be even more important (I wish someone had talked me into retiring a decade earlier).
I invite everyone to join MMM now while the price is as low as it’s going to go.
I hope to see you there soon — there are only a few days left in the sale. Again, you can access the sale here or visit the original post for additional details.
Now let’s end this from a thread titled, “Hanging Out With People Who Help You Grow” by one of the members…
I know this has been a topic we’ve discussed in passing at times on the forums, but a Tweet that I read yesterday (from the only Twitter account I actually read since I don’t have any social media accounts nor particularly care for it in general) reminded me why I absolutely love MMM:
“Hang out with people who make you realize what a long way you still have to go. That’s not discomfort, that’s growth.”
I didn’t/don’t have much of this in my daily personal interactions (apart from MMM of course), despite actively seeking it out in those around me. When attempting to chat about many of the worthwhile topics that have been brought up here, many of my colleagues, friends & random strangers just…can’t.
At times I am pleasantly surprised when I actively engage others and am duly educated on a subject, old or new, but a majority of my encounters are simply intellectually underwhelming.
It’s easy to say, “Hey, just hang around & interact more with people you want to learn from.” But reality isn’t quite that simple. In fact, the only reason millionaires typically discuss ideas with me at all is because I literally “pay-to-play” with them each month on this forum. lol.
Every single one of you are experts of your own experiences, many of which I will not, or physically can not, experience on my own. There is something I can (& most likely already have) learned from each individual here who has shared those experiences with the rest of us.
Therefore, I just wanted to thank all of you that have made me feel “uncomfortable” over the past couple of years, challenged my thinking, broadened my scope of knowledge in general, and reminded me how far I still have to go. Really appreciate you folks!
Bernd Doss says
It is not that I have learned to walk. It is the fact that I have learned from each step. Thanks ESI.
Phillip says
Hi ESI. Any thoughts on donating 100% of your profits to worthy charities? Given you are a multi-millionaire, I suspect some folks may feel that you’re really interested in the money even though you don’t need it. This may turn off people from joining (like me).
Please don’t take this the wrong way. It’s obvious MMM provides sufficient value that makes it worth the price to all those fine folks who are members. I’m all for capitalism and I find MMM to be a wonderful innovation you created. You should be proud of the success and value you have helped create (along with all the menbers who contribute) and if charging $ is what you and your members want, more power to all of you.
ESI says
I mainly charge for two reasons:
1. Based on YEARS (decades really) of experience teaching and writing about money, I have found that people rarely value what they get for free. Give someone meaningful info for free and they often do nothing with it. Charge them and they now have skin in the game — and take the product and it’s teachings seriously (which is what I want.)
2. We do give away a pretty large amount every year as I’ll be sharing in a post later this fall. But thanks for suggesting that I give away everything. I love how people offer this as a suggestion when most (the stats show that Americans give away somewhere between 2-3% of their income) give little.
And for a couple other points:
1. Everything here on ESI Money is free. Three posts a week for several years now. You’re welcome.
2. If you are turned off by a wealthy person doing something that costs money, then you basically can’t buy anything from anyone. You can’t buy from Amazon (Bezos), Microsoft (Gates), Tesla (Musk), and on and on. Almost every big corporation is run by people who are wealthy, so it’s going to be tough if you’re turned off by that and won’t buy as a result.
Phillip says
Hi ESI.
Your site, your forum, your time, your money, your rules. Don’t you love how other people like to tell you what to do with your money? Sorry, didn’t mean to bring politics onto your blog.
And yes, thank you for your 3 posts a week. I do appreciate it.
I posted my comment because I’m suspecting my personal opinion isn’t unique. I’m a member of a few different forums, all free. Some include screened memberships (to try and maintain quality of posts) that focus on real estate investing and one focused on typical issues faced by semi-weathy households. I sense the mission of those forums are to promote exchange of ideas/advice/lifestyles/etc. to the maximum number of like-minded individuals and don’t want a fee to be a barrier. (Yes, I know that the real estate forum owners benefit from “collective bargaining” and SPVs with syndicators but the primary motivation is to do collective due dilligence and don’t want cost to scare some people off). But if you want to build a money making business that offers value to it’s members just like Bezos, Jenilek, Hastings, etc. (or maybe Orman, Ramsey are closer comparisons) more power to you. I admire your success thus far. But if you’re trying to maxmize participation and membership, I thought the donation angle might garner more members. Keeping the fee gets around the “do nothing with it” problem you mention.
Thanks for the opportunaity to comment. Not all bloggers publish comments that may be seen as contrary to their narrative.
MI-119 says
Phillip, I recommend you read Rich Dad Poor Dad if you haven’t already done so. You need to switch to the mindset that doesn’t suppress your potential, if you’re interested in attaining it.
Nobody, wealthy or otherwise, owes anybody anything. Everyone has the rights to the benefits in our society. The difference is how one capitalizes on the opportunities.
You certainly don’t need to pay for any advice. However, information that may seem basic at the time can be worth a tremendous amount to the right person when that light bulb finally goes on in their head, even if they heard it a dozen times before. Sometimes coming from a person who has done what you are trying to do can be the switch. Or sometimes you need to hear the information from a different angle for you own nuanced situation.
FYI I’m comfortably a decamillionaire and under 50, but not a MMM mentor at least not yet, so no conflict of interest here. However, over the past two decades I have personally benefitted from advice that seemed obvious or insights from a blog, an accomplished neighbor or colleague when I took off the blinders. That is a Rich Dad mindset that is elusive to many and can’t be taught on any site, but it is what allows one to optimize returns on the information in front of us. It allows us to take calculated steps following those who have done it, rather than being paralyzed by the fear of failure or misdirection that holds back the Poor Dad.
Ultimately, one has to determine for themselves whether any service or product is worth what you pay for it. I believe ESI is trying to provide tremendous value for those looking to take their success to the next level. The unique stories of everyday millionaires here make this site special in it of itself from which I personally benefit and implement changes. The value of accumulated, actionable knowledge is priceless. Give ESI the credit for the decades of hard work that have led to the benefits of this site. MMM probably just takes it to another level for those that do want personal coaching, which would be far more expensive elsewhere by the way.
ESI says
Thanks! You said it better than I did!
Phillip says
Hi MI-119,
What you say makes perfect sense but that wasn’t the point of my comment. The primary value/content of forums typically come from it’s contributors … it’s somewhat rare to find forums that are fee based since forums need contributor comments to thrive. With Netflix, Costco, etc., members are pure consumers and don’t contribute to the core value of the product other than $ (which can be invested to improve the product). Sure, moderators do a lot of work to keep the forum running and contribute to content themselves but with many other forums, those moderators don’t monitize their forums by charging a fee to contributors. ESI’s “free membership to MI interviewees” twist is a brilliant idea to garner highly valued contributors. I find it facinating that enough folks are willing to pay annual membership fees as well as contribute their knowledge to make the forum successful. Kudos to ESI for getting this business model to work. I recall postings from ESI saying he wasn’t sure if this model would work but it has exceeded his wildest expectations.
ESI is one of my favorite blog sites and I sometimes take the time to comment to hopefully enhance his free content with further discussion/insight. Paying for a forum and then adding value to that product to line ESI’s pockets is something I choose not to do (I know I can be a pure consumer for the fee if I want to).
My comment was purely about an idea of how “ESI should spend his money” to get more members but yeah, lose all profit. He’s perfectly free to put that idea where the sun doesn’t shine. If he wants to monetize his forum in a fee based manner, that’s his right. That’s capitalism. ESI’s forum, time, money … rules. Members are free to oblige or not.
Rick says
I signed up on Sunday night 9/18 and have not received a confirmation email or instructions on MMM.
Can you please provide some assistance?
ESI says
Yes! We were hoping you’d contact us!
You entered the wrong email when you signed up (I can see your correct email in this response) and we had no way of contacting you (until now).
Sending you an email in one second…